Coach: Constant improvement crucial

The Seneca Indians hope to put a crushing 55-0 defeat at the hands of the Monett Cubs behind them, as the Indians meet with the Lamar Tigers this week at Earl Campbell Stadium in Seneca.

“I’ll tell you, we’re a very young football team, very inexperienced,” said Head Coach Dan Scheible. “The key to winning is continuing to improve. We’ve got to get better every day in everything we do.”

In a previous interview, Scheible noted a lack of experienced leadership on his young squad. For instance, last week’s opponent, Monett, has 24 seniors on the team. Meanwhile, Seneca has a squad of 42 players, total.

“They didn’t have to face adversity, we couldn’t hold them long enough to put pressure on them,” he said after last week’s game. “They looked like a senior-laden team and we looked lost. We are better than that.”

Seneca totaled 96 yards of total offense, nearly equally divided between rushing and passing yards. Additionally, the Indians had just four first downs in the contest.

“Lamar is a strong football team, and has been for years,” Scheible said. “They’re doing the same offense and defense as they’ve done in the past. They have that misdirection, double offense. They’re just a solid high school football team.”

Scheible dispelled the notion that the artificial turf of the newly rededicated Burl Fowler Stadium played a role in the loss, however small.

“We’ve played on field turf several times,” he said. “Our state championships were on field turf, the jamboree [at Joplin’s Junge Stadium] was on field turf, and our first game, we had field turf. It’s just not that big a thing anymore.”

While the Indians will be at home this week, the row they have to hoe won’t get any easier. Lamar has won three Class 2 championships in the past.

“Lamar is a veteran football team. Those kids have been playing 15 football games every year,” Scheible said. “There is no substitute for game experience. That’s a big plus for them.”